James Dole - Family and Retirement

Family and Retirement

Dole married Belle Dickey (1880–1972) in Jamaica Plain on November 23, 1906. His wife was the sister of architect Charles William Dickey, a member of another missionary family. They had five children: Richard Alexander Dole was born on October 28, 1907, James Drummond Dole, Jr. was born on February 6, 1910, Elisabeth Dole was born on April 25, 1911, Charles Herbert Dole was born on October 30, 1914, and Barbara Dole was born on October 10, 1916.

Sanford Dole had asked to avoid using the Dole name for products, but it had become well-known, at least within Hawaii. Dole retired in 1948, only a few years after introducing the first product to actually bear his name, canned Dole pineapple juice. He suffered from various ailments in retirement; the worst were a series of strokes. A heart attack finally took Dole's life on May 20, 1958. Dole was buried in Makawao Union Church cemetery near Makawao, Hawaii on the island of Maui. His grave overlooked the slopes of Haleakala and the vast pineapple fields of what was at the time his Maui pineapple plantation. His wife Belle inscribed the words on his gravestone, "He was a Man, Take Him All in All. I Shall Not Look Upon His Like Again."